The movie stars Ninja and Yo-Landi Visser of controversial South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord (Afrikaans for "The Answer"), who are fans of Neill Blomkamp's work. Ninja has a tattoo 'D9' - i.e. District 9 (2009) - on his inner lip.
Brandon Auret, who plays "Hippo", openly admitted his disdain for his co-star Ninja (Watkin Tudor Jones) in an interview. He quoted saying "Everyone knows the relationship that I have with Waddy. I don't care much for him. I don't care much for his band, I don't care much for anything that he does, you know, when somebody comes and feels that they have the right to tell you how to do your job? Yeah, it became an issue."
During his GMA appearance, Hugh Jackman admitted that he has had trouble keeping up with phrases from his home country. "I found myself googling Australian slang," he said.